My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Paolo Pedercini is an Italian game designer, artist, educator, and activist whose work has spent more than two decades challenging assumptions about what video games are for, and what they are allowed to say. In 2003, he founded Molleindustria as a project dedicated to the "reappropriation of video games and the radicalisation of popular culture."

Since then, he has created a remarkable body of short, provocative games about labour, capitalism, religion, technology, and political power, including McDonald’s Videogame, Oiligarchy, Every Day the Same Dream, Phone Story, and Democratic Socialism Simulator. His games have often been satirical, often controversial, and always interested in using play as a way of thinking through systems and ideology. Now he is working on his most ambitious project yet: Future? No Thanks!, an open-world comedy adventure about a grumpy old man completing his bucket list in a solarpunk future.

NOTES:

Paolo Pedercini / Molleindustria

Molleindustria – official site (all Paolo's games)

Paolo Pedercini – Wikipedia

Paolo Pedercini – Bluesky (@molleindustria.org)

Future? No Thanks! (out now)

Future? No Thanks! – Steam

Future? No Thanks! – official site

Other Molleindustria games mentioned

McDonald's Video Game – play free in browser

Oiligarchy – play free in browser

Every Day the Same Dream – play free in browser

Phone Story – Wikipedia

Democratic Socialism Simulator – itch.io

Faith Fighter – play free in browser

Sweatshop (as mentioned by Simon)

Sweatshop – play in browser

The New Yorker piece (as mentioned by Simon)

The Division 2 and the Severing of Politics from Video Games – The New Yorker

Paolo's Perfect Console

Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software, 1993) – Wikipedia

Sensible Software – Wikipedia

Shadow of the Colossus (2005) – Wikipedia

Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Wikipedia

Push Me Pull You – House House (Steam)

House House – developer of Untitled Goose Game and Big Walk

Radiator Forever – Robert Yang (itch.io)

Robert Yang – game designer

Other games and references mentioned

Theme Park – Bullfrog Productions (1994), Wikipedia

Postal 2 – Wikipedia

GTA San Andreas Hot Coffee mod – Wikipedia

The Yes Men – activist/prankster duo

Foxconn suicides – Wikipedia

itch.io – indie games platform

Aftermath – independent games journalism

Tom Bissell – My Perfect Console episode

Untitled Goose Game – House House

Next week's guest

Úna Míng Kavanagh – IMIRT emerging talent award 2026

Úna Míng Kavanagh – TikTok (@unamingkavanagh)

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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My guest today is an American game producer and studio leader whose career has been shaped by a deep love of competitive shooters and more than two decades spent building some of the genre’s major titles. She began at Treyarch, where she worked as a senior producer on Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops II, before joining Riot Games in 2015. There, she first helped lead League of Legends’ cosmetic content and in-game events.

She later moved into leading a new tactical shooter project, becoming Executive Producer of VALORANT and guiding the game to its launch in 2020. Today, as Head of VALORANT Studios, she oversees the franchise’s wider creative and strategic direction, while also championing initiatives such as VCT Game Changers, Riot’s programme supporting women and marginalised genders in competitive play.

LINKS

Anna Donlon – Valorant & Riot Games

Valorant – official site (free to play)

VCT Game Changers – Riot's programme supporting women and marginalised genders in competitive play

Riot Games – official site

Anna's Perfect Console

Silent Hill 2 (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

Silent Hill 2 Remake (2024) – Steam

Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, 2005) – Wikipedia

Shadow of the Colossus Remake (2018) – PlayStation

BioShock (2007) – Wikipedia

Ghost of Tsushima – official site

Ghost of Tsushima – PlayStation

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island – Wikipedia

Also mentioned

Kaboom! (Atari 2600) – Wikipedia

ICO (PS2, 2001) – Wikipedia

Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games

Arc Raiders – Steam

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Wikipedia

Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Wikipedia

Treyarch – Wikipedia

JumpStart – educational games series, Wikipedia

University of California, Santa Cruz

Next week's guest

Paolo Pedercini / Molleindustria – official site

Future? No Thanks! – Steam (out now)

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special correspondence edition, Simon reads out your letters and answers your questions.

Is there a cut-off point for working in games journalism? Which video game does Simon think should surely have been picked by now but hasn't? Who decides how long guests talk about their game choices? How does Simon actually make the show — from bookings to post-production to those musical stingers? What is Simon's new book about, and how did he uncover the untold legal battle thxat changed the shape of the video game industry? And did you know the UK government has a Head of Video Games and Esports who listens to the show? Us neither! All this and much more.

And congratulations to letter-writer Chris Law, who wins a signed copy of Blood Echoes: A Bloodborne Anthology.

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Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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Chris Cantrill is a British comedian, writer, and actor from West Yorkshire whose work combines rapid-fire jokes with an off-kilter view of everyday life. He first came to prominence as one half of the acclaimed sketch duo The Delightful Sausage, alongside Amy Gledhill, earning Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations for Best Show in both 2019 and 2022. As a solo performer, he added another nomination in 2024, before returning to Edinburgh this summer and finally winning the Comedy Award for Best Show in 2026.

Alongside stand-up, he has appeared in programmes including Alma’s Not Normal, Daddy Issues, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, and Avoidance, while his writing credits stretch across television and radio. Most recently, he joined the writing team of Saturday Night Live UK, which returns for its second season this week.

LINKS

Chris Cantrill

Website

Instagram

The Delightful Sausage

Saturday Night Live UK

SNL UK on Sky

Simon's Observer Features

How Saturday Night Live Landed in the UK

Jack Shep on That Princess Di Impression

Chris's Perfect Console

Duke Nukem: Time to Kill

Final Fantasy VII

Bloodborne

Animal Well

The Case of the Golden Idol

Other games discussed

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Dark Souls

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Resident Evil 2 Remake

The Witcher 3

Elden Ring

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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My guest today is an Irish writer, poet, critic, and podcaster. Born and raised in Dublin, she began writing seriously as a teenager, studied English, Media and Cultural Studies at IADT, and later completed a Master’s in Creative Writing at NUI Galway. Her early work included the poetry collection Follies and Not Lost, a book of essays about emigration written after she moved to San Francisco in 2012.

Since returning to Ireland, she has published a series of acclaimed novels, including Spare and Found Parts and Other Words for Smoke, which won Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Her 2025 horror novel Eat the Ones You Love was followed by a shortlist for Author of the Year, and she is now the 2026 Arts Council Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. Alongside her fiction, she writes about games for The Guardian. Her new horror novel, Strange Is the Light, is out now, and she is currently working on another book, about video games, titled Everything Not Saved.

LINKS

Sarah Maria Griffin – books & socials

Sarah Maria Griffin – official website

Sarah Maria Griffin – Instagram (@sarahgriffski)

Sarah Maria Griffin – Substack

Sarah Maria Griffin – writing about games for The Guardian

Strange as the Light (out 8 September 2026)

Strange as the Light – Waterstones

Strange as the Light – Titan Books

Strange as the Light – Bookshop.org UK

Earlier novels

Eat the Ones You Love – Waterstones

Other Words for Smoke – Waterstones

Sarah's Perfect Console

EarthBound (SNES, 1994) – Wikipedia

EarthBound – Nintendo Switch Online

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – Wikipedia

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Nintendo

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Wikipedia

Night in the Woods – official site

Night in the Woods – Steam

Wandersong – official site

Wandersong – Steam

Other references mentioned

Disco Elysium – Steam

Chicory: A Colorful Tale – official site (Greg Lobanov, also made Wandersong)

826 Valencia – literacy non-profit, San Francisco

Dublin Youth Theatre

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – Waterstones

Rock, Paper, Shotgun – games journalism

Glenn Moore – Button Boys podcast

Next week's guest

Chris Cantrill – Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show winner 2026 (Rewilding)

Chris Cantrill – Chortle profile

Saturday Night Live UK – ITV

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Diver is a British journalist, editor, and author whose career has moved fluidly between music criticism and video games writing, always with an eye for subculture, history, and stories beyond the mainstream. He began at the music website Drowned in Sound, where he rose to become content editor, before going on to work with Clash and contribute to publications including Kerrang! and Rock Sound.

Later, he turned increasingly to video games, writing for outlets including Edge and Kotaku - as well as heading up teams at VICE Gaming (later Waypoint) and GAMINGbible - and bringing the same curiosity and critical energy to games culture, retro hardware, and the history of the medium. Alongside his journalism, he has written six books on video games and edited several more, covering subjects from indie games and esports to Sonic the Hedgehog and Final Fantasy. His latest book, Aliens: The Video Games, continues that fascination with the way great pop-cultural worlds mutate and endure through interactive form.

LINKS

Mike Diver – website & book

Mike Diver – Aliens: The Video Games: An Unofficial Guide (Waterstones, out 30 August 2026)

Aliens: The Video Games – publisher White Owl / Pen and Sword

Alien games discussed

Alien: Isolation – Steam

Aliens: Dark Descent – Steam

Aliens: Colonial Marines – Wikipedia

Aliens: Infestation (Nintendo DS) – Wikipedia

Aliens vs. Predator (Capcom, 1994 arcade) – Wikipedia

Alien: Rogue Incursion – Steam

Alien: Isolation 2 – official announcement trailer

Mike's Perfect Console

Sensible Soccer (1992) – Wikipedia

Sensible World of Soccer – Wikipedia

Streets of Rage 2 – Wikipedia

Streets of Rage 4 – official site

Snatcher – Wikipedia

1944: The Loop Master – Wikipedia

Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium (includes 1944) – Steam

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – official site

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Steam

Other games and references mentioned

Drowned in Sound – Wikipedia (music website where Mike began his career)

Vice Gaming / Waypoint – Wikipedia

Aftermath – independent games journalism site

Respec – independent games journalism site

Mina the Hollower – Yacht Club Games

Yuzo Koshiro – composer of Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack, Wikipedia

Hideo Kojima – Wikipedia

Evercade – retro gaming handheld

Next week's guest

Sarah Maria Griffin – official website

Eat the Ones You Love – Sarah Maria Griffin's latest novel (Waterstones)

Sarah Maria Griffin – writing about video games for The Guardian

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soren Johnson is an American programmer and game designer whose work has helped shape the modern strategy genre. After earning a master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, he joined Firaxis Games, where he worked as both a programmer and designer on Civilization III before going on to lead the design of Civilization IV, one of the most celebrated strategy games yet made.

Over the years he has contributed to a wide range of projects, including Spore, Dragon Age Legends, and Offworld Trading Company, bringing a distinctive blend of historical insight, systemic thinking, and player-driven design. Today he is the founder and design director of Mohawk Games, where he recently led the development of the acclaimed historical strategy game Old World. Alongside his development work, he continues to explore the craft of game design through his long-running blog and podcast, both of which are titled “Designer Notes”.

Soren Johnson – website & podcast

Soren Johnson – Designer Notes blog

Designer Notes podcast – episode archive

Designer Notes – Apple Podcasts

Designer Notes – Spotify

Mohawk Games & Old World

Mohawk Games – official site

Old World – official page

Old World – Steam

Old World – GOG

Old World – Epic Games Store

Old World: Empires of the Indus DLC – Mohawk Games

Soren's Perfect Console

Pinball Construction Set (1983) – Wikipedia

M.U.L.E. (1983) – Wikipedia

Seven Cities of Gold (1984) – Wikipedia

Legacy of the Ancients (1987) – Wikipedia

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) – Wikipedia

Other games and references mentioned

Civilization IV – Wikipedia

Civilization III – Wikipedia

Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004 remake) – Wikipedia

Civilization Revolution – Wikipedia

Offworld Trading Company – Steam

Spore (2008) – Wikipedia

Balatro – Steam

Vampire Survivors – Steam

Schedule I – Steam

Lethal Company – Steam

Bennett Foddy – personal site

Danielle Bunten Berry – Wikipedia (designer of M.U.L.E.)

Trip Hawkins – Wikipedia (founder of Electronic Arts)

Jake Solomon – Wikipedia

Game Developers Conference (GDC) – official site

Simon's book

Trial of the Space Invaders – pre-order (Bookshop.org UK)

Trial of the Space Invaders – pre-order (Amazon UK)

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is a Jamaican game developer and studio founder. Based in Kingston, he is the founder of Spritewrench Studios, a narrative-focused micro studio he built after realising, in his final year at university, that he did not need to leave Jamaica or join a hundred-person team to make games of his own.

Inspired by that possibility, he began creating small projects, taking part in game jams, and steadily turning Spritewrench from a name into a company. His work is shaped by a commitment to cultural representation that reaches beyond cliché, and by a wider effort to grow the local scene through the Jamaica Game Developer Society, where he has worked to connect creators and open up pathways into the industry. Now, with Duppy Detective Tashia, a point-and-click mystery rooted in Caribbean folklore, he is bringing that vision to a wider audience.

Glen Henry & Spritewrench Studios

Spritewrench Studios – official website

Spritewrench – itch.io (all games)

Glen Henry – Instagram (@spritewrench)

Duppy Detective Tashia

Duppy Detective Tashia – Steam

Duppy Detective Tashia – itch.io

Jamaica Game Developer Society

Jamaica Game Developer Society – official site

JGDS – YouTube channel (Crash Course series)

Glen's Perfect Console

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – Wikipedia

Viewtiful Joe (GameCube, 2003) – Wikipedia

Spelunky Classic – free download (Derek Yu's site)

Spelunky Classic – Wikipedia

Hades – official site

Hades – Steam

Hollow Knight: Silksong – official site

Also mentioned

Bastion – Supergiant Games

Transistor – Supergiant Games

Indie Game: The Movie – official site

Black Voices in Gaming – community Discord

Rami Ismail – game developer and advocate

Chase Bethea – composer (Duppy Detective Tashia)

Bubblexity – BChaotic (Jamaican student dev team, Steam)

TIGSource – indie game development forums

Global Game Jam

Next week's guest

Soren Johnson – designer of Civilization IV

Old World – Mohawk Games (Steam)

Simon's book

Trial of the Space Invaders – pre-order (Bookshop.org UK)

Trial of the Space Invaders – pre-order (Amazon UK)

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amelia Tait is a British journalist and author whose work has made her one of the sharpest observers of modern life online and off. As a freelance writer, she has built a reputation for following the strange, revealing currents of contemporary culture — writing about the internet, and remarkable people for publications including The New Yorker, The Guardian, Wired, and the New York Times.

Her reporting is often drawn to the places where technology and absurdity collide, finding the human story inside subjects other people might dismiss as niche or ephemeral. Now she has turned that same wit and curiosity to fiction with her debut children’s book, Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveller, a funny, fast-moving adventure about a girl bouncing through history while trying to survive friendship drama and the general embarrassment of being thirteen.

LINKS

Amelia Tait – website & writing

Amelia Tait – official website

The Waiting Room – Amelia's Substack newsletter

Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveller

Lily Tripp – Waterstones (Waterstones Children's Book of the Month, June 2026)

Lily Tripp – Amazon UK

Amelia's Perfect Console

Theme Hospital (1997) – Wikipedia

The Simpsons: Road Rage (2001) – Wikipedia

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – Wikipedia

The Sims Bustin' Out (Game Boy Advance, 2003) – Wikipedia

Stardew Valley – official site

Stardew Valley – Steam

Other games mentioned

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo

The Simpsons: Hit & Run – Wikipedia

Amelia's journalism – selected pieces

Are Disney Adults the Happiest Debtors on Earth? – The New Yorker

Amelia Tait – articles on The Guardian

Next week's guest

Duppy Detective Tashia – Glen Henry / Spritewrench Studios – Steam

Spritewrench Studios – itch.io

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Trickey is a British comedian whose work blends sharp writing, physical comedy, and, in his new show, one of the more extraordinary Edinburgh Fringe stories in recent memory. By day he works as an accountant; by night he has been building a reputation as one of the most promising young voices on the live circuit, with appearances across the UK, a Chortle Student Comedy Award nomination, and a Best New Show nomination at the Leicester Comedy Festival.

Last year, his sold-out Edinburgh debut, Don’t Count on Me, marked him out as a rising talent, earning strong reviews and an enviable word-of-mouth reputation. Since then, he has appeared on the BBC’s Funny Parts and returned to the Fringe with a new show shaped in part by the strange and unexpectedly dramatic events of last summer.

LINKS:

James Trickey – follow & tickets

James Trickey – Instagram (@jamestrickey_)

James Trickey: Split – Edinburgh Fringe 2026 tickets (Pleasance Courtyard, 9:25pm, 5–30 August)

James Trickey: Split – Avalon press release

James's Perfect Console

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Wikipedia

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – Steam

Halo 3 – Wikipedia

Undertale – official site

Undertale – Steam

God of War (2018) – PlayStation

God of War (2018) – Wikipedia

The Last of Us Part II – PlayStation

The Last of Us Part II – Wikipedia

Bristol comedians to watch

Abi Clarke – comedian and content creator

Alex Kitson – Chortle profile

Jessie Nixon – Chortle profile

Ted Milligan – British Comedy Guide

Pravanya Pillay – PBJ Management

Also mentioned

Alfie Brown – comedian

Glenn Moore – at the Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh Fringe

Pokémon Crystal – Wikipedia

Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance) – Wikipedia

League of Legends – official site

Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.